Issue 33

Dear Friends and Colleagues of the GHG Protocol,

Welcome to the January, 2012 edition of the GHG Protocol newsletter. This quarter’s edition highlights the major global and regional events that we organized to launch the new Product Life Cycle and Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standards. Launch events have taken place in New York, London, Beijing, Tokyo, and Durban and training courses on the new standards are taking place internationally.

Coinciding with the launch of the new standards, the GHG Protocol has reached its 12th year anniversary. At this important time in GHG Protocol’s history, Pankaj Bhatia, Director of GHG Protocol, and Janet Ranganathan, the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Vice President of Science and Research, discuss GHG Protocol’s evolution and look at salient features embodied in the GHG Protocol approach and stakeholder process that have proven key to its success.

Meanwhile, the GHG Protocol continues to develop new standards and guidance. The processes underway to develop Power Sector guidance to establish accounting rules for renewable energy purchases and products, Agriculture Sector guidance, and Mitigation Accounting guidance will enter into a new phase with workshops and opportunities for stakeholders to review and provide inputs in the coming months. More details are provided in the sections below.

As always we welcome your feedback on all areas of our work.

Best regards,

The WRI and WBCSDGHG Protocol Team

Top Stories

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, developed by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), sets the global standard for how to measure, manage, and report greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of companies and organizations around the world are using GHG Protocol standards and tools to manage their emissions and become more efficient, resilient, and prosperous organizations.

Featured Content

WASHINGTON (January 20, 2015)– Today the World Resources Institute unveiled new guidance for companies to measure emissions from purchased electricity. The first major update to the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard responds to the rapid growth of renewable energy and other major shifts in the electricity market.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol and Quantis have joined forces to develop and launch the Scope 3 Evaluator - a free, web-based tool that allows users to make an initial, rough approximation of their full Scope 3 footprint, regardless of the size or type of organization.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the world’s leading cities injecting sustainability into its planning. In 2011, Mayor Eduardo Paes enacted an ambitious climate change law, setting a goal to avoid 20 percent of its emissions by 2020, based on 2005 levels. There was only one problem: The city wasn’t sure just how much it was emitting, or where its emissions were coming from.

Launch of First Global Standard to Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cities

WRI, C40 and ICLEI Establish First Common Standard to Measure and Report City Emissions

LIMA, PERU (December 8, 2014) — Today the World Resources Institute (WRI), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) launched the first widely endorsed standard for cities to measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at a COP20 event featuring mayors and officials from cities around the world. The Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) uses a robust and clear framework to establish credible emissions accounting and reporting practices, thereby helping cities develop an emissions baseline, set mitigation goals, create more targeted climate action plans and track progress over time. By using the GPC, cities will also strengthen vertical integration of data reporting to other levels of government, and should gain improved access to local and international climate financing.

WASHINGTON, DC (November 18, 2014)For the first time, governments now have consistent, reliable methods to account for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions from their climate policies and goals.

Today, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) launched two new standards to help governments design better policies and emissions reductions goals, and measure progress against them. Developed by World Resources Institute (WRI), the Mitigation Goal Standard and Policy and Action Standard will enable policymakers and analysts to set robust mitigation goals, improve policies, and track progress to meet climate goals.

China just announced a mitigation goal to peak its emissions by 2030 or earlier, while the United States committed to reduce its national emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. South Africa has pledged to reduce its emissions 34 percent below business-as-usual emissions by 2020. Costa Rica has a carbon neutrality goal to be achieved by 2021. New York City aims to reduce its emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. And countless other cities and countries have set similar emissions-reduction targets.

Tunisia launched its renewable energy program, PROSOL ELEC, in 2010 to scale up solar photovoltaic systems in buildings throughout the country. The National Agency for Energy Conversation (ANME) anticipated that the greater use of solar power would help curb climate change, but experts didn’t quantify just how much the program would reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

After a successful nine-month pilot test from May 2013 to January 2014, the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) has been revised and is now available for public comment until August 18th. The authors particularly welcome review by city officials, practitioners, and technical experts in the fields of energy, transportation, waste management, agriculture and forestry.

SÃO PAOLO//WASHINGTON (May 29, 2014) – The World Resources Institute unveiled the first ever Agricultural Guidance to help companies measure, manage, and report greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector, including farming, livestock, and land use change. The agriculture sector is responsible for 17 percent of global GHG emissions, including land use change. However, 75 percent of agricultural producers targeted by CDP do not report their emissions.

May 5, 2014 - April 25, 2014

Background

Since the Corporate Standard publication in 2004, both companies and energy suppliers have sought ways to use contractual instruments such as power purchase agreements, renewable energy certificates, Guarantees of Origin, and utility green power programs to support claims about the low-carbon attributes of purchased energy. In addition, companies have increasingly taken a holistic view towards their energy demand management and procurement. Both trends have emphasized the need for a more complete and nuanced reporting framework for scope 2.

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Updates

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, developed by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), sets the global standard for how to measure, manage, and report greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of companies and organizations around the world are using GHG Protocol standards and tools to manage their emissions and become more efficient, resilient, and prosperous organizations.

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Profiles

Benedict Buckley is a Research Analyst working on the GHG Protocol’s Product and Value Chain Initiative. Benedict was previously a Senior Research Analyst at Trucost Plc, an environmental research consultancy based in London. There he worked with private and public sector organizations to measure and understand the environmental impacts associated with supply chains and investment portfolios, for clients including Puma, Vestas, Rabobank and Hermes Asset Management. He specialized in environmental economics at Trucost and created valuation models to quantify the impacts of air pollution and waste.

Benedict holds a Masters degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, where he focused on Business and the Environment and wrote his thesis on quantifying the environmental benefits of investing in clean technology. He also holds a Bachelors degree in Biology from the University of Manchester. Other experience in the environmental field includes volunteering at Forum for the Future and working on a wildlife conservancy in Naivasha, Kenya. In a past life Benedict spent two years working in the television industry, first for a TV post-production company on Madison Avenue in New York and then in London as a Researcher on the Rough Guide to Travel TV series.

Jared Finnegan works on the GHG accounting component within WRI’s Measurement and Performance Tracking (MAPT) initiative. MAPT aims to build capacity in developing countries to create and enhance systems that track emissions and emission reductions associated with climate and energy policies.

Before joining WRI, Jared provided research support to the Post Carbon Institute in California on issues related to sustainable economic growth. His work contributed to the book The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality. He has also promoted sustainable development at United Nations Headquarters in New York through an internship with NGO Sustainability, and at the local level with the Economic Development Board of Sonoma County, California.

Jared holds a B.A. in Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where his dissertation focused on ethics and climate change.

Stacy Kotorac is a Project Coordinator/Research Assistant with the GHG Protocol team. Stacy focuses on the Product and Supply Chain Initiative, working on outreach and widespread adoption of the Product and Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Standards. She also works on the international capacity building training programs, standards/tool development projects, and provides day-to-day support to the GHG Protocol team. Prior to joining the GHGP team, Stacy interned with the Vulnerability and Adaptation objective at WRI.

Stacy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Science, Technology and International Affairs and a certificate in International Development from Georgetown University. During college, Stacy interned at the Environmental Protection Agency where she worked with the strategic climate partnership division. She also worked at Partners of the Americas on Youth Programming and their Farmer-to-Farmer exchange program.